| Visit Our Catalog at SteelGuitarShopper.com |

Post new topic ETS pickup swap?
Reply to topic
Author Topic:  ETS pickup swap?
Asa Brosius

 

Post  Posted 13 Jan 2015 6:47 am    
Reply with quote

Has anyone changed the pickup on an ETS? Looks like it might require removal of the neck.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Julian Goldwhite

 

From:
Alhambra, CA, USA
Post  Posted 13 Jan 2015 2:47 pm    
Reply with quote

Hi Asa,

I believe the pickup on the ETS is just held down with double-sided foam tape. The neck shouldn't need to be removed.

All the best,

Julian
_________________
http://www.bellgardensmusic.com/
http://www.facebook.com/BellGardens
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Asa Brosius

 

Post  Posted 13 Jan 2015 4:11 pm    
Reply with quote

Great news- thanks Julian
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Billy Carr

 

From:
Seminary, Mississippi, USA (deceased)
Post  Posted 13 Jan 2015 5:23 pm     Ets
Reply with quote

Correct on the double sided tape. If pu is mounted(bolted to plate with machine screws) it'll change the tone and won't have a full mellow sound. The tape mount is much better. Got that from ex-uncle, the late Bobby Bowman. He had mounted a pu and went back to the double-sided tape. Good luck. The ETS guitars were/are very stable, I think due to the aluminum body and of course, Bud Carter.
View user's profile Send private message
Peter den Hartogh


From:
Cape Town, South Africa
Post  Posted 15 Jan 2015 4:44 pm    
Reply with quote

Al Brisco told me that by gently rocking the old pickup up an down, you will be able to work it loose.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Jay Jessup


From:
Charlottesville, VA, USA
Post  Posted 19 Jan 2015 6:31 am    
Reply with quote

I would be interested in other's opinion on Billy's comment about the tone difference using foam tape. It never occurred to me that you could just stick a pickup on with foam tape and the fact that it may have a tone difference is interesting too. I don't have an opinion but would like to hear from others who have experience with this?
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Bruce Derr

 

From:
Lee, New Hampshire, USA
Post  Posted 19 Jan 2015 10:53 am    
Reply with quote

I've never experimented with it but have sometimes wondered how pickup mounting techniques affect tone. If you think about it, the vibrations being transmitted through the body vibrate the pickup very slightly at certain frequencies, which might, at those frequencies, have a cancelling or aiding effect upon the notes, and the harmonic spectrum, of the signal being picked up from the strings. If the pickup is tightly fastened to the guitar body the effect would, in theory, be maximized. Perhaps foam tape isolates the pickup somewhat from those body vibrations.

On another note, I have a Carpsteel with a foam-mounted pickup, and sometimes it falls off while the guitar is up-side-down in the case. I'll pull the guitar up out of the case and find the pickup sitting on the underside of the strings.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Asa Brosius

 

Post  Posted 19 Jan 2015 8:56 pm    
Reply with quote

here's the reason for the post: i've been playing a friend's ETS (checking it out before i buy one)and i like the george l 10-1 pickup- i find i can dig in a bit more-quite punchy and touch responsive. however, a lot of pedal noise is coming through the pickup. It's not bad enough to ruin a gig, but way too much for recording. Any ETS owners experience this? or is this pickup simply microphonic?
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Charlie McDonald


From:
out of the blue
Post  Posted 20 Jan 2015 4:26 am    
Reply with quote

I've had two lapsteels (acoustic) with a baby humbucker mounted with sticky tape and it's smooth to my ear, certainly less microphonic.
Isolation from mechanical vibration does have its effect, and I'm sure it has its plusses and minuses
depending on the tone you desire, as Bruce Derr describes.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Eric Dahlhoff


From:
Point Arena, California
Post  Posted 20 Jan 2015 8:40 am    
Reply with quote

My ETS does not have any pedal noise coming through. I would guess that the pickup on yours must be touching the cabinet.
_________________
"To live outside the law you must be honest." (Bob Dylan)
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Julian Goldwhite

 

From:
Alhambra, CA, USA
Post  Posted 20 Jan 2015 10:34 am    
Reply with quote

Asa - My ETS is extremely quiet and recording friendly. Not sure what the issue is with your friend's. I haven't heard of George L's going microphonic, but changing out the pickup might be a good place to start.

All the best,

Julian
_________________
http://www.bellgardensmusic.com/
http://www.facebook.com/BellGardens
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Dennis Russell


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 20 Jan 2015 3:53 pm    
Reply with quote

I have an ETS and I don't get pedal noise through the pick-up, but I did find out when I did some recording last year, that I was picking up the sound of the pull rods in the undercarriage moving. As I've seen others do (not only on ETS but other makes of guitars), I used some foam between the undercarriage rods to help keep the pull rods from hitting each other and to help deaden any vibration. The foam helped diminish the rod noise quite a bit.
_________________
ETS S10, Fender Champion 6 string lap steel, Magnatone 6 string lap steel, Johnson Dobro, 1961 Fender Bassman, Fender Blues Jr., Fender Mustang III
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Asa Brosius

 

Post  Posted 20 Jan 2015 5:31 pm    
Reply with quote

Great- just what I wanted to hear.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail

All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Jump to:  
Please review our Forum Rules and Policies
Our Online Catalog
Strings, CDs, instruction, and steel guitar accessories
www.SteelGuitarShopper.com

The Steel Guitar Forum
148 S. Cloverdale Blvd.
Cloverdale, CA 95425 USA

Click Here to Send a Donation

Email SteelGuitarForum@gmail.com for technical support.


BIAB Styles
Ray Price Shuffles for Band-in-a-Box
by Jim Baron